Manufacture of cushions.



W. R. DONEGAN.

MANUPAGTURB 0F CUsHloNs.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1908.

Patented May 20, 1913 WITNE ES ATTORNEY.

NTED ,STATES PALIENT OFFICE.

WILLIAI B.. DONEGAN, 0F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, '10 POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION .0FCONNECTICUT.

MANUFACTURE OF CUSHIONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 26,1913.

To all whom it may concern y Be it known that I, lViLLiAM R. DONE- GAN,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in thecounty of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a newImprovement in the Manufacture of Cushions, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates more especially to the construction of the generalclass of cushions which are stuffed with hair or similar material, and`more especially to the manufacture of cushions known as tufted spacesprovided in the follower.

cushions, with mattress springs The object of my invention is to providea means and process of constructing such cushions that "shall enable acushion to be quickly made and the seams in which shall be strong anddurable.

A form of apparatus in which m inven 'tion may be practised isillustrate in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a view insection through a box embodying my invention and Showing a preliminarystep in the construction of a cushion. Fig. 2 is a like view of aportion of the box showing a succeeding step in the construction of acushion. Figj?) is a similar view showin a still further step in theconstruction of t e cushion. Fig. 4 is a like view showing a stillfurther step in the process.- Fi 5 is another view rshovi'ing the laststep. 1g. 6 is a detail view showing a modified form of the invention.

Prior to my invention it has been customary to place the top of acushion, fre` quently constituted of leather, within the bottom of abox, this top being raised at intervals upon supports bearing clenchbuttons. Ilaiting pins 'are then inserted over the support and inclosingthe clench buttons. hair is then placed in the box, and the plaiting insare removed. A backing of canvas or li e material is then placed uponthe hair and a follower placed within the box is pressed downward,forcing the clench buttons through the backing or linin into T e boxbeing then removed tacks are' driven through the top and lining andclenched against a metal plate on the edge of the follower,... A

facing, with a welt already sewed to it ail turned inside out, is thenplaced in position,

yand enough tacks driven through the facin' welt, top and lining to holdthe latter in position. The facing is then sewed in place by hand afterthe cushion has been removed from the baseboard. This Sewing by hand isa lon operation and the expense of the cushion is therefore increased toa considerable extent owing to the length of time required inconstruction.v

In constructing a cushion after the above described' means, the top,which is commonly formed of leather, as in the construction ofautomobile cushions, must be cut of a size much larger than is finally ruired, the edges being trimmed off in the y al operation, thus producinga great waste of leather and further increasing'ethe expense of menu:facture.

A device for making a. cushion as ebow described is illustrated in theaccomp drawings, in which the letter a denotes the;

baseboard, b the box, a the sup g Socket pins, d the clench buttons, ethe vplaiting pins, and f the follower'. l

In carrying out my invention in addition to the old devices above setout I provide the' bottom board a with a bottom iron 6`secured about theedge of the board and extending to a considerable distance above it, asplainly shown in the drawings. The lower ed of the box b 'has a recess 7forming a 8 which is located outside of the bottom iron 6.

In the construction of a cushonin accordance with my invention the te 9of :the cushion, commonly constructed o leather is cut to the exact sizefinally required. Il facing 10 and a welt 11 is secured to the top as bymachine sewing as at 15, the attachment of the facing at thispreliminary step in the construction enabling the facing toibo thusmachine sewed in lace, which opera.- tion is quickly accomplis ed. Thefacing is turned inside out-,as shown in the drawings,

yand the whole placed upon the bottom or base a with the top restin uponthe supf porting socket pins c as p ainly shown 1n Eig. 1 of thedrawings. In this position the outer or top edge of the welt 11 rests un the upper edge of the bottom iron-6 an is. supported thereby, to givethe required thic ness Vto the finished cushion. The box b is now placedin position, as plainly shown in the drawings, the welt 11 being locatedto V`titan the recess 7 and the facing 1.0 and top 9 projecting downwardalon oppositev sides of the bottoni iron 6. Gui es 12 are now ipiaced inposition, these guides being pref-v 110 hel erably' constructed of thinsheet metal, a sparate guide being supplied to each side 0 the box. Thelower edge of each guide projects downward below the top of the recess 7and consequently below the joined edge of the facing, welt, and top,which are completely inclosed within the recess. The clench buttonshaving been inserted through holes in the to as the latter was placed 1nposition, the p aiting pins e are now placed and the hair( distributedthroughout the box, followin which the plait-ing pins e are removed. helining 13, of suitable material, as canvas, is now placed upon the hairand the follower placed in position upon the lining and'pressure appliedto the follower, compressin the hair and forcing the clench buttons d trough the openings in the follower. y Washers h are pla upon the clenchbuttons and the latter bent or l clenched over, as shown in Fi s. 4 and5 of the drawin -this holding t e lining securely in p aceand retainingthe hair compressed to final form. A follow iron 18 is secured to theedge of the follower f 'extending'thereabout and rojecting below itsunder face, and this fo low iron serves to hold the backin 13 in roperposition and to accurately 'ace it or the subsequent opera tions. 'T eguides 12 and box b are now removed. The lining is secured in positionas by means of stitches 17 extending through the facing, welt, top andining, the beveled edge 14 on the follower allowing access to the partsfor the purpose of effecting such stitching.

If desired tacks vmay be driven through the facing, welt, top and liningagainst the follow iron 18, strips of leather, acting as clenchers,having been placed on the outer surface of the lining through which thepoints of the tacks project and against which the points clench. As nogreat strain is laced upon the lining this method of securv'ing it inlace by means of the tacks will be found su cient to hold the parts inplace, although the stitching is pre erred, as then there are no headsof tacks to wear the con-p; tacting parts, or to leave impressions toshow through on the outer face of the cushion. It will be noted that thefinal stitching is effected while the follower is still in place thusholding the parts securely in position. l

I claim- 1. A base having a welt supporting edge projecting upwardtherefrom, a box having a recess in its edge so formed that t-he sewededge of the welt and cover will project above the lining when depressedfor final fastening, a follower for packing the material within the box,and a guide to close said recess and prevent contact of the followerwith the edges of the Welt and cover.

2. A base having a welt supporting edge projecting upward therefrom, abox having a recess so formed with respect to said welt supporting edgeas to support vthe sewed edge of the Welt and cover .above the liningwhen depressed, and a follower to depress the stuffed cushion and lininga nd having means to permit sewing of the lining to the cover whlle sodepressed.

3. A base having a welt supporting edge projecting upward therefrom, abox having a recess so formed with respect to said welt supporting edgeas to support the sewed edge of the welt and cover above the lining whendepressed, and a follower to depress the stuffed cushion and lining, theedge of the follower being beveled to permit the sewing of the lining tothe welt and cover while in its depressed condition.

4. A base having a welt supporting edge rojectin upward therefrom, abox, and a lfgollower ocated within the box to depress the stuffedcushion and lining, the edge of the follower 4being beveled to ermitsewing of the linin to the cover w ile in its depressed con ltion.

WILLIAM R. DONEGAN.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR B. JENKINS, L. H. KELTING.

